Notes / Commercial Description:
The generous addition of hops both during and at the end of the fermentation process (dry-hopping) gives our India Pale Ale its characteristic bitterness and piney citrus aroma and flavor. The medium body, crisp finish, and moderate alcohol and IBU levels makes this one of America’s most drinkable and best-selling IPAs.

Reviews by roller:

Pours a bright, clear straw color with a one-finger white head that broke up into a thin, holey collar that left a little bit of lacing. Aroma isn't too strong and is of piney hops with a bready body. The taste is much of the same, with bread up front and bitter citrus rind in the finish. There's not a ton of flavor to be honest. It's medium bodied and quite fizzy. I bought this at the supermarket because it said IPA. Not a bad beer, but not anything special. Would be good for a cookout.

The appearance is transparent boring gold. An okay white head with minor lacing. The scent is weak musty moss and straw. Some hop smells linger but do not stand out at all.

The flavors are dry fruit hops. I cannot place the fruit flavor. It is sort of a citrus and berry combination. There is a grain flavor that I do not think belongs here. Not much hop bite and the malts are weak and bland. This IPA does not have any direction.

A watery quality to the mouthfeel at first. Then if felt as if my mouth was about to dry up. I am not impressed. A clean crispness adds to drinkability but I can think of many other IPA's I would rather drink than this one. I am glad I only bought a single bottle.

Had this one on tap at my local 99 Restaurant & Pub. Big ass 25 oz mug at that. Some old lady in the booth next to me was whooping and hollering that I was drinking a mug of beer the size of my head. Needless to see I almost had beer come through my nose out of sheer laughter. Any way … back to the beer.

Real nice lacing and it actually left rings down the glass, perfect clarity off of a pale golden yellow colour. Faint aroma of esters and grain. A bit buttery in the mouth with more alcoholic esters, odd fruitiness and flavourless hop bitterness left me wondering where the IPA is. Dry, pale and well … weak maltiness. Not a bad flavour but somewhat bland.

It was fine to wash down some steak tips and sides but not a beer I’d drink alone just for the sake of drinking beer.

12oz bottle. I had this a few years ago during my introduction to West Coast IPAs - methinks I've learned a lot since.

This beer pours a clear, pale golden yellow colour, with lots and lots of bubbly, rocky, and thinly foamy white head, which leaves a pretty decent wall of drooping lace around the glass as it slowly melts away.

The carbonation is on the low end of things, just a timid frothiness presiding, the body an adequate medium weight, a bit slick, but smooth enough. It finishes on the sweet side, the bready/caramel malt standing out over the still noticeably muddled and disorganized hops.

A very restrained, but still acceptable version of the style, most likely best served as an introduction to those unfamiliar with it, as I was, once. Easy to drink, and unassuming, something to kill when your taste buds and/or palate have already been.

It is easy to smash his beer if you are a true aficionado. That said, not a half-bad session IPA. I grabbed a double-deuce in a gas station on the way to a baseball game. Right next to the Schlitz and Olde English. Under the right circumstances, and price conditions ($1.50), this beer can be a pleasant surprise and a welcome find for a beer snob just looking for one more drink and listening to some Grateful Dead. The key is to temper your expectations.

Average. Average ipa. Average beer. Wait. Bomber can be found nationwide for 2.50? I buy this out of spit for beer snobs. This beer is fucking tasty and cheap. Think. Tasty hops nothing fancy and cheap. That 11.99 bomber of Clown Shoes goes real well with this. It's a filler beer. Like Budweiser for beer aficionados. Sometimes you just want more hops and you don't want them to kick your face. Aftertaste is a bit off but for 2.50 I have no fucks left to give in terms of discrediting this beer. Great choice every time. Never amazing. Always great.

On tap at Fat Bob's Smokehouse in Buffalo,came to the table in a standard pint glass a lighter golden with thin formed soapy-like head that stuck around for most of the pint being drank.Very light hop aromas for an IPA faint pine and citrus with some dry bready malt showing through as well,at first swallow you get a touch of hop quality a little pine resin but it fades out quick and becomes a little bland I was hoping to get some nice hop to cut through the bbq but it really didnt hit home.A pretty average beer that with some pretty average bbq last night.

Appearance  The body is a very thin and clear orange, but the head is terrific. It foamed up nice and easy, lingered, and left a cool spider-web lacing.

Smell  Why is cheap grain and sucrose leading the nose on this IPA? Where are the hops?

Taste  Foul! How do we classify Ju-Ju Bees and Budweiser as an IPA? This is a light pale ale, and a poor one at that.

Mouthfeel  Light and watery but somewhat refreshing.

Sinkability  Im using this to wash down the Liquid Plummer.

Comments  I had this on tap at the brewery (I didnt take notes so I didnt post a review). I swear it wasnt nearly as bad as this.

Update  I first reviewed this in 03 so thought Id revisit this fella in 2005.

It smells a little better than I noted in my review but otherwise this basically sucks. Its grainy, clumsily hopped, and has some really cheap carbonation. With the recent move of Bear Creek Brewing, Redhook is actually the closest brewery to my house. How sad. Im raising the Smell by 0.5 and promising myself never to drink this again.

This is a nice crystal-clear, copper-colored beer with a thin, stay-put, white head and good, sticky lacing. Smell is good and fresh, no frills classic cascade citrus and pine. It is clean and fresh. Taste is very simple. Bracing bitter upfront barely qualifies this for IPA status. Sweetness underneath and a soapy off-flavor comes out if you let it sit on the tounge too long. This sits very light on the palate. I would've liked this beer more as a pale I think, but as an IPA its got no oomph.

I have fond memories of drinking this stuff at the Ballard brewery when visiting an old childhood friend. It is therefore disappointing to report that this beer is so undistinguished when poured out of the bottle in you own home. Not much head, and repeated attempts at discerning an aroma didn't get very far. It is certainly an easy-to-quaff IPA with a low alcohol content and minimal bitterness.

I guess I'd prefer to drink a good pale ale over this faint-hearted IPA.

T: Nicely grainy with very moderate bitterness for the style. Hop profile is pleasant, although not at all intricate or interesting. Very distinct citrus rind flavor in the aftertaste.

M: Thin and watery, although I thought it a bit better as it warmed. Decent carbonation.

D: Pretty high, actually. The simple, unoffensive flavor, matched with the thin body and uncomplicated nature of this beer equals the potential for significant levels of consumption, especially considering the inexpensive price.

Overall this is a very mellow IPA - seems more like an APA, really. If I was grading more to style, the scores would be lower. Uncomplicated, unexceptional, no flaws. Easy drinking and good for situations, like some parties, when you know you're not going to be paying enough attention to what's in your glass to break out the real good stuff, but you want something that tastes good. Unoffensive - could be a good intro to better beer for the uninitiated palate. Good for parties where you don't want to offend your guests' palates, but you refuse to offend your own at the same time. Good for what it is and the price point.

T-M- Taste is solid but just not anything special... balance but just not enough. Upfront tang of citrus with a very lightly carbonated malt taste... small hop bitterness at the end. Mouthfeel is watery and finishes with a astringent touch on the buds.

A: Bright golden yellow in color. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass producing relatively small white head that slowly dissipated into a single white ring around the glass. Light lacing.

S: Pleasant light floral hop aroma. Nothing extravagant but nice.

T: Solid flavors. Nicely malted with lighter pale malts; hops overtake the malt but doesn't leave you with the bitterness of some IPAs. Light hop linger.

M&D: Lighter mouthfeel but still satisfying. Moderate carbonation is a good match and lets the brew go down smoothly.

If you are a major hop head you are probably not going to be real pleased with this one. Although I like hoppy ales, I really liked this too. Long Hammer seems to have a bit more balance and isn't necessarily all about the hops. It's refreshing and smooth and still highlights the hops without over doing it. Nice job.

So many have asked if Long Hammer IPA is the same as Redhook IPA. The answer is yes. It's a bit deceiving for consumers who cares.

No problem with head retention on this one--three fingers of healthy-looking off-white head slowly drops a stodgy coating of lace on the glass. Sweet, oily hop aroma: one part floral and one part soft citric. Hint of fruity esters and a kernel of malt in the nose as well. Very smooth with a moderate body and a perfect level of mid-range carbonation. Lots of clean hop oil to begin with, and some bitterness setting in with a semi- aggressive grassy flavor. Light biscuity grain flavors from middle to end, with a tagalong fruitiness. Light breath of alcohol and more hop flavor in the dry finish.

This is your standard utility American IPA, nothing too crazy or in-your-face, but just a solid IPA in the regional brewery genre--perhaps more of a Pale Ale by today's standards. Satay ginger chicken with a spicy peanut dipping sauce did very well with this beer.

This might be a good beginners IPA. The beer poured nice with a light amber color with a nice off white head and good lace on the glass. The smell was slightly piny but not much else. The flavor was a little underwhelming. The hops, while not as assertive as some IPA's, was there for sure with some decent piny/citrus tones but there was no malt to back it up. Once the hop flavor hit, there was nothing but a dry void of carbonation.
While this might be a good choice to ease a newbie into 'bigger beers', it needs some real work on the malt bill to be taken seriously by IPA enthusiasts.